The Hunting Party
by VikiCullen
Summary: The yearly Hunting Party has begun, the hunters are good and ready to start the run. The Prey? Hermione Granger. R&R.
1. Gentlemen

**A/N: Everything belongs to JKR!! R&R pleaseee!**

_Gentlemen, _

_You are hereby invited to _

_The Hunting Party._

_500 galleon admission fee, if you are interested, meet two hours after curfew at the portrait of_

_Mordred the Malevolent._

_Be discreet about your invitation._

_The password is _The Hunt has begun.

_Looking forward to meeting you, _

_Joe Davenport - Hunting Master._

Harry looked at the worn out parchment in his hands and then up at the painting of Mordred the Malevolent, where he was told to be at the time.

He had tucked his Invisibility Cloak beneath his robes the minute he arrived and was now standing infront of the painting of Mordred, pondering his decision to enter.

The parchment had been handed to him by a stuttering first year from Ravenclaw, while he was practicing his loops at the Quidditch pitch.

He had returned to the castle with a confused expression, forgetting in his haste to change out of his Quidditch robes in the locker room and instead opted to go directly to the Common Room.

There he had sent Ron a glance before going up the stairs to the boys dormitories, noting that Hermione was absent, probably still in the library.

When upstairs he had locked the door soundly, before turning to a curious Ron and handing him the letter.

"I got this today…what is it?" Harry asked as he took his robes off and proceeded to change to a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Ron didn't answer and Harry looked away from his pant buttoning and noted that his friend was red in the face, mouth agape and eyes wide.

"Ron?" he asked softly, coming closer to the redhead who was opening and closing his mouth, frantically searching for words.

"T-the hunting party…" Ron stuttered before promptly plopping down on the closest bed, which conveniently enough was his own.

"It's this…place where a few wizards get invited to the last week of their sixth year. I only know of two, three including you whom have been invited. Bill and Charlie were both in on it, Charlie used what he won to travel to Romania and set up a place to live…Bill lost 500 galleons and the girl he fell in love with." Ron began before scratching his head.

"The deal is, frankly put…a betting game, a girl in sixth year is randomly picked, I don't know how, and the boys compete for her, without her knowing it. The winner gets all of the money the others put in the pot and the girls…virginity."

Ron blushed furiously at his last word, licking his lips before starting up again.

"There is a hunt master who helps the others start up before he graduates, the boy who won the last round is the next party's master. It is a great honour and only boys who are deemed worthy are asked to arrive"

Here, Ron looked down at his feet, caressing the parchment with one finger, thinking of how he was once again bested by his best friend and brothers.

Harry as if feeling his friends' feelings took the parchment and tossed it in the rubbish bin.

"I'm not going, it's stupid and what if I knew the girl, I could never break anyone's heart like that!" he murmured, seating himself next to his friend.

Ron's head snapped up, eyes sparkling dangerously as he rose and stomped over to the rubbish bin, retracting the parchment and waving it infront of Harry's face.

"No. You are going, if only to look and if you want you will join, if not…" he paused and smiled "you can come back and tell me all about it!"

"Are you coming in or not, boy?" Mordred asked, impatiently tapping his cane against the corner of his portrait.

Mordred the Malevolent was wearing a black top hat, deep green robes and a silver cane with a heart shaped head in black matte stone.

His handsome face was surrounded by long black locks to his shoulders and a neatly trimmed moustache rested over his full lips. His eyes sparkled with well…malevolence, the icy blue orbs promising pain and pleasure combined.

Harry nodded to the wizard, deciding to do as his friend asked…only to look around and tell Ron all about it later.

"The Hunt has begun"

--

"Who are we waiting for?" Draco drawled, annoyed that he was forced to wait for the last boy as he twirled his wand between his fingers.

"Just one more, Malfoy, and then we can begin…if he doesn't arrive in two minutes we'll start without him" Joe Davenport of Ravenclaw stated.

Draco frowned, hating when others were late but nodded, knowing that the seventh year was in charge.

There were twelve other boys there besides himself, four from Ravenclaw, three from Hufflepuff and Slytherin and two from Gryffindor.

He had been told of The Hunting Party by his father, whom had attained his mother through the game.

Draco had also been told of his part in the game.

Every Malfoy son had attended, no exceptions and it was rumoured that a Malfoy had been the co creator of the Hunting Party.

Soon his musings were interrupted by the creaking of the portrait opening, letting The-Boy-Who-Just-Wouldn't-Die through the opening.

He felt his lips form a sneer by instinct and he felt faintly pleased that even his body had learnt how to respond to Potter's arrival.

Said boy had a curious expression on his face until he noticed Draco, which caused his face to twist into a similar facial expression as the other boy.

"Malfoy" he greeted between clenched teeth.

"Scarhead" Draco replied, smirking inwardly at the other boy's furious glare.

"Now boys, none of that. Be seated and I will tell you why you are here" Davenport chastised before seating himself at the far end of the long mahogany table in the middle of the dark stone dungeon room.

Harry looked around him and noticed that Cormac McLaggen and Seamus Finnegan from his own house was there and hurried to seat himself next to the Irishman, politely greeting the bumbling troll McLaggen as he went.

There were three boys from each house, he noticed as he looked on the others seating themselves next to their own.

Kevin Bailey, Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw, seated to his right.

Malfoy, Zabini and Pucey from Slytherin next to them, and Zacharias Smith, Justin Finch- Fletchley and a boy he remembered being called Josh Kendall from Hufflepuff.

Davenport proceeded in telling them basically what Ron had told Harry earlier that evening, with some exceptions.

He was told that the girl was picked out of a hat, all _virgin_ girls in sixth year would be inside the hat and Davenport would stick his hand inside and the name that came out would be what they would call from then on 'The Fox'.

The first one_ inside _won, this statement of rules caused a couple of lusty leers and throaty chuckles from some of the boys.

If you wanted, you could add 50 galleons to get some inside info on the girl; likes, dislikes and such.

Nothing too personal, for it would give you too much of an advantage.

If the girl ended up being a personal friend to a player, the player was replaced, but the girl's place was firm, no switching.

No players were allowed to leave if they weren't satisfied with the girl; they had to give an oath to play, only exiting if they were close friends with the Fox.

And if one was to exit, you would not tell anyone-and especially _not_ the fox- about the game.

After the fox had been chosen you were not allowed to make any kind of move towards her until the beginning of seventh year.

When the rules were cleared up Joe tapped the surface of the wooden table three times and a small crack appeared, the crack spread and opened, revealing a hollow inside of the table.

Joe inserted his hands in the hollow and gently extracted a familiar looking black top hat, flipping it upside down before taking a pouch out of his robes and shaking its contents into the hat.

Several pieces of parchment fell into the hat and Joe shook the hat so the parchments would mix thoroughly.

"Ready, gentlemen?" he intoned, not waiting for a response before putting his hand inside and picking up the first parchment that made contact with his fingers.

He unfolded the parchment, the others waiting with bated breath as he read the name.

"The Fox this year is…Hermione Granger, Gryffindor"

--

Hermione Granger was confused.

And being confused annoyed her greatly, since she was rarely so.

Two days ago both her best friends and a number of other fellow sixth years had been acting strangely; she noted also that all of them were of the male variety.

When she walked the halls she noted that those particular males seemed to stare at her.

She had no idea why and was rather frightened by the cause of their sudden attention.

None of them besides Harry and Ron had approached her to speak; they simply stared at her…eagerly, like hunting dogs watching the fox, waiting for it to run so the chase could begin.

Ron had this shocked expression flitting over his face everytime he set eyes on her, like he was surprised that she was there.

Harry had gone more silent than usual, guilt sometimes sparking in his eyes before leaving again and she was most certain that he was keeping a secret from her.

As she sat on a bench on the muggle side of Platform 9 ¾ waiting for her mother, she thought of these odd looks she received, becoming none the wiser as she pondered what the cause may be.

She had already said her goodbye's to her friends, the golden trio splitting up, but eager to see eachother soon again.

"Darling?" a soft voice called from the crowd bustling around on the platform, looking for their train.

She raised her head and smiled brightly when she saw her mother make her way towards her.

Hermione looked a lot like her mother, unruly chocolate curls, amber eyes and petite curvy figure. The only thing she inherited from her father was her love for books and fiery temper.

"Mum" she greeted and was instantly enveloped in her mother's lavender scented embrace.

--

When arriving to the Granger residence she had to bite her lip to stop from crying.

While she had been in Hogwarts her beloved father had passed away, leaving a nearly empty house and heartbroken wife and daughter behind.

She had only told her closest friends and the Weasley's, not being able to stand too many pitying looks being shot her way.

She had mourned for him for a month, curling up in her bed crying after placing a strong silencing charm upon her drapes.

After the month passed she threw herself desperately into work, knowing that her father's greatest wish was for her to succeed academically, but also socially.

She had never got to the social part, for people naturally stood away from know-it-all-bossy-bookworms like her; she only had a handful of friends, maybe even less than that.

This summer she was determined to do something about the social part of her life, wanting her last year to be filled with excitement, love, drama and all those stupid things that normal teenagers experienced.

Harry had defeated Voldemort last summer and all of the youths in the wizarding world let loose, the thoughts of impending war not weighing down their shoulders anymore.

She and Ron had obviously been there, sending their Avada's at the same time as Harry, hoping to put a stop to the madness.

And they did.

Hours after that she received an urgent letter from Dumbledore, telling her to come as fast as she could to Hogwarts.

She, thinking that he only wanted to congratulate her on their success, took her time walking to the Headmaster, smiling and greeting her friends and well wishers on the way, even stopping at the kitchens for an apple to go.

When she arrived, she was met by the sight of a grave headmaster, eyes no longer twinkling as he told the young witch the worst news she ever received.

She had not been able to meet her mother, the guilt of walking through Hogwarts so cheerily haunting her. She told her mother through owl that she needed a little time, but would be home for the summer.

Her mother seemed to understand, for she didn't press the matter more.

She stepped into the silent house, teeth clenched tightly to stop sobs from leaving her mouth.

Her mother walked slowly behind her, letting her daughter deal with her own grief.

The house was exactly as she remembered a big living room with the usual furniture, telly and occasional paintings and shelves. The whole house was coloured in whites, browns, beiges and greens, except her room, which was powder blue with white accents.

Next to a small fireplace rested a white rocking chair, in which she recalled her father seating in, smoking his cigars as he watched the fire.

She walked shakily to the rocking chair and collapsed on it, taking a deep breath before bursting into great heaving sobs.

--

She took a deep breath before knocking lightly on the white door infront of her.

The door opened and she looked shyly at the middle aged woman who stood there.

"Hermione?" she asked a surprised but happy expression on her face.

"Yes, Mrs. Holly" Hermione responded, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"Is…is Lola here?" she asked, half hoping the respond to be negative, but also hoping it to be positive.

"She sure is! Come on in, Hermione. It's been such a long time since you came over" The older woman said, a small hint of disappointment in her voice.

"I'm sorry about that…I've been busy with school" Hermione said, not being entirely untrue, since she had been rather busy in the library lately.

Mrs. Holly hollered up the stairs that Lola had a friends visiting and to _get her butt down here_.

She was at the home of her formerly best friend, a muggle girl called Lola Holly, or Lolly Holly in some circles.

They had slipped apart from eachother when Hermione changed schools to Hogwarts, not really bothering to talk to her friend anymore.

Until fifth year she went every weekend during the summer to see her friend, determined not to let the friendship fade.

But when Sirius died and Harry became more dependant on her and the war escalated she had no time for Muggle friendships, spending most of her time at the Burrow of Grimmauld place.

Now, she hoped that her slight against her old friend would be forgotten in the light of Hermione needing help, and desperately.

For Hermione was, as earlier mentioned, determined to give her own social life at Hogwarts a push, but knew not where to start.

So, she bit the bullet and decided to go to the girliest girl she knew, that she trusted more than anything, and that wouldn't question her actions, or ask if she was in love with The-Boy-Who-Conquered or The-Weasley-Who-Helped-The-Boy-Conquer.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the patter of feet as Lola ran down the stairs.

"Mione?" she gasped, a wide grin spreading over her face.

"Lolly" Hermione greeted, smiling as her friend launched herself in her arms, babbling about how much she had missed her.

Hermione guessed that she was forgiven for her sins.

--

"Are you sure about this, Lolly?" she asked, twiddling with the waistline of her new low cut skin tight black jeans.

Her friend flicked her blonde bangs out of her green eyes, flashing a brilliant smile towards Hermione as she applied lip gloss to her lips.

"Of course I'm sure, you look smoking!" She smirked and pouted her lips to the mirror.

Hermione shrugged, looking herself in the mirror.

She sure looked different.

Her hair was tamed to sleek curls to her waist, her teeth shiny white and lips sparkling with a strawberry gloss.

Her feet were covered in knee high black leather stiletto boots and she was wearing a rather revealing red backless halterneck.

She had tucked her wand safely in her cleavage, the tip of the handle resting precisely beneath the edge of her shirt, waiting for her to pull it out and turn people to frogs.

Lolly had told her about a party that would reside in her friend's brother's girlfriend's sister's house and was certain that Hermione could try her new personality on the crowd that would surely arrive.

"Ok, your new life starts here!" Lolly giggled and batted her eyelashes exaggeratedly.

Hermione smiled, looking herself quickly in the mirror again before squaring her shoulders and turning to her friend.

"I'm ready"

--

Hermione stumbled drunkenly through the backdoor of her house, walking not so quietly through the kitchen and up the stairs to her room, where she closed the door with a snap.

The snap was much louder than intended and she giggled before shushing herself and giggling some more.

The night had gone by splendidly, her original awkwardness had been lost after a few Tequila shots and soon she was dancing on a table, gyrating left to right like nobody's business.

She had kissed a few boys whom she didn't know the name of, only faintly recognizing some faces from school when she was younger.

School was beginning soon and Hermione was squeezing every drop of her new experiences as a teenager.

--

_Tap._

_Tap._

A bush of curly chocolate curls moved upwards, half covered by powder blue covers.

"Whaa?" a faint mumble was heard from the bundle of cloth and curls and a nose peeked out, followed by half a face that scrunched up at the sudden contact with light.

Outside of her window a barn owl was tapping on her glass angrily, annoyed at being left outside and ignored for so long.

She rolled out of bead, groaning as her hangover made itself known and walked like a zombie to the window, pushing it open and letting the Hogwarts owl inside.

"Treats are there…now gimme" she growled and pointed to the owl treats in a bowl on her desk before taking the Hogwarts envelope from the owl's beak and breaking the seal.

She turned the envelope upside down and a shiny gold badge fell out into the palm of her hand, the letters _HG _emblazoned boldly on the surface.

A squeal left her parched lips and her hangover was momentarily forgotten as she ran down the stairs to the kitchen where her mother was making breakfast.

"I made Head Girl!" she shouted and jumped into her mothers arms, laughing and squealing at the same time as her mother chuckled in happiness.

When the hubbub died down and Hermione seated herself on a kitchen stool her mother turned her amber eyes on her daughter, all trace of laughter gone as she asked:

"Now, will the Head Girl explain what she was doing that was so important that she was unable to return home at a decent hour?"

--

.


	2. The hunt has begun

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. JKR is the man. err..woman. author....**

**Sorry for being slow, but life is a bitch and it wont leave me alone. unfortunately i can't say the same about my muse.**

Hermione stepped onto the platform of 9 ¾ with a happy smile and took a look around, searching for her friends.

She only hoped that they would recognize her.

During the summer, Hermione had grown into a fine witch, indeed. She had vacationed in Spain for a few weeks and had sun kissed skin from the trip.

Though she didn't get any taller, other parts of her had changed drastically.

Her bushy mane of curls was tamed into chocolate ringlets to her elbows, er wide eyes shining amber with the help of some cosmetics.

Her lips were touched up with raspberry lipgloss and her grin was wide, radiant and white, no trace of the shy buck-toothed smile from her younger years.

A low whistle was heard and she looked around to find Malfoy leaning against a pillar a handome smirk on his angelic features.

If god had pushed one of his winged friends down from the heavens, she was sure that Malfoy was the one. He was the epitome of a fallen angel.

She frowned instinctively when faced with him- and any other Slytherin, really.

"What, Malfoy?" she said, a faint growl in her words.

He smirked, one amused blonde eyebrow raised at her hostility.

"You clean up nicely, Granger" he said before giving her a sly wink and walking towards the train, his shoulder brushing hers lightly, causing a trail of unintentional to shivers to run down her spine.

She watched-mouth open in shocked disbelief-as he walked away, confidently parting the throng of students like Moses faced with the red sea.

Had _Malfoy_ just paid_ her_ a _compliment_?

Before she could answer her own question somebody bumped into her and a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Oh, I'm sorry...Hermione?" Ron screeched mid sentence and reddened up like a tomato in mere seconds.

She smiled, happy that he noted her change, finding a sadistic pleasure in finding him stumbling over his own feet after ignoring the fact of her gender for so many years.

"Hello, Ronald, have you seen Harry?" she asked politely and pretended not to see how his eyes scanned her whole person, stopping at key points.

She could see the wheels slowly turning inside his head, shaking of cobwebs and practically screeching against each other as they rotated and tried to put the pieces together.

Ron nodded and pointed towards the train, obviously opting to stay silent until his mind caught up with the happenings around him.

Wow, she had forgotten how _thick _he really was.

They started a slow trek towards the red monster train and she grew slightly uncomfortable beneath the many stares of disbelief and fascination.

"So...how was your summer?" she asked, breaking the silence.

She thought she could hear the wheels in his head come to a halt and start to rotate the other way around, before stopping completely in time with the goofy grin covering his freckly features.

As his mouth opened to foretell all of the oh, _so _exciting happenings during his summer at the burrow, she found herself regretting her stupid decision of breaking the ice.

Now she'd have to live through Quidditch babble until they found Harry.

Great.

–

She closed the door to the compartment she shared with Harry and Ron and drew a hand through her hair before pinning her "Head Girl" badge on her uniform.

She took a deep breath and started to walk towards the Heads' compartment, taking quick looks in passing windows to try to catch a glimpse of herself and decide if she looked presentable.

After a quick wipe of some smudged make-up she opened the Heads' compartment door and found none other than a slimy Slytherin lounging in a seat, twirling a quill between long olive digits.

Black eyes rose from parchment to meet amber ones and the silence descended in the compartment.

Her body tensed instantly, preparing for a fight of wits, insults shooting like bullets through the air but found herself deflating at his soft words.

"Hello, Granger"

She stopped herself from smiling sheepishly like a first year, mentally berating herself for preparing for a fight with someone she'd never even spoken to, based only on the crest on his robes.

His _perfectly_ ironed and tailored robes, if she might add.

"Zabini" she replied, her tone only one pitch colder than polite.

She had seen him around school, hanging with Malfoy, smiling at the cruel wit spewing from the blonde's mouth, but never joining in when goading other students.

She wasn't sure if that was a point with or against him.

He sighed, a mournful sound in the silence.

"Can you please sit?" he said gently, patting the space next to him.

She frowned and walked forward, opting to sit on the seat in front of him, eyes focused on his eyes and fingers tense and ready to strike with the warm wood that was brushing her fingertips.

He smiled, seemingly amused at her reaction to him.

Actually he was amused, seeing the former gray mouse of Hogwarts tense and ready to pounce like the lioness she really was entertained him immensely.

She seemed to watch his every move with those enchanting eyes of hers, doe eyes, but with dangerous knowledge lurking in the whiskey depths.

He found he edge of his mouth curl up in a grin on its own will.

He extended a slightly ink stained hand towards her and waited for her eyes to leave his manicured nails and focus on his eyes.

He knew that girls always had had a thing for his eyes.

Dark and mysterious or something.

Well, he wasn't complaining, as long as it was working.

"I want to call a truce, we are going to live with each other for the rest of the year and I find that being constantly on guard rather tedious..." he proposed and waited for her hand to make contact with his, for he was sure that that was going to happen.

Gryffindors' loved having friends and being in peace with others, she wouldn't be able to decline the offer.

As predicted, her palm made contact with his, and he had to stop himself from laughing like a muggle cartoon villain.

"Deal" Hermione said softly and shook his hand, deciding to believe in his motives.

If he was lying and was planning something else, she could always sick Ron and Harry on him.

If she didn't get to him first, that is.

She smiled and decided to start from the beginning.

"Hello, My name is Hermione Granger, you can call me Hermione"

He smiled, showing slightly pointed eye-teeth.

"Hi, my name is Blaise Zabini, you can call me Blaise"

She nodded and shook the hand that still clutched hers.

"Hello, Blaise"

–

Harry was pacing in the train compartment, hands running through his wild hair as he looked desperately at his best friend.

He was rubbing the pale scar on his forehead, nearly invisible now.

It still itched now and then, when he got worried or agitated, but he was happy with that part of his life being over.

"Obviously I was kicked out, because I had too close a relationship to Hermione, but they never told me who they replaced me with and now I don't know all of the players, Ron!" he whined.

Harry would feel tons better if he knew all of the Hunters and was able to look out for Hermione.

Ron shoved another Pumpkin Pastie in his mouth and mumbled around the food "It's not like we wont notice, you know all the others, we only have to catch the odd man out that wasn't at the meeting but still hits on her"

Harry gave Ron an incredulous look and stopped pacing.

"Ron, you do realize that the Hunters aren't going to be the only ones hitting on her this year, right?" he said and looked somberly at his friend.

Ron's eyes widened, not realizing that until Harry pointed the fact out.

"Well...that complicates things, doesn't it?"

–

The sorting ceremony was as boring as always, ten new students to Gryffindor, three girls and seven boys.

Hermione found herself playing absentmindedly with the napkins at the table, twirling her wand, making them turn into a wild array of colours and shapes.

She had never been so unfocused on the headmasters speech and watched through heavily lidded eyes as he told the school something about a stupid Quidditch tournament that made the students roar with abandon.

She could barely repress a groan at the thought of a bunch of buff brainless Quidditch players from some stupid team like...say, the Holyhead Harpies coming for a visit to teach the house teams new tricks.

She saw Ron bouncing up and down on his seat, face aglow with the hope of the _surprise_ team being the Chudley Cannons.

She twirled her wand and the napkin folded itself into crude Gryffindor red monkey.

–

After walking the first years to the dormitories and greeting all of her friends she walked out of the portrait hole and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of the silent castle air.

_She was home._

Her new appearance had gained a lot of attention, both males and females gave her smiles and compliments. It was fun, actually being noticed as a girl and not "The brightest witch of her age" or "The Muggleborn girl who helped defeat the Dark Lord".

She had a feeling that this year would bring her a lot.

A sudden crash and a yelled curse interrupted her musings and she ran towards the sound, wand in hand.

When she reached the stairs she saw a boy-Hufflepuff judging by his colours-, probably a seventh year as herself, at the bottom of the stairwell, ankle twisted in an odd direction and lower lip between his teeth to stop himself from yelling out loud again.

He had ruffled dark blonde hair and very light blue eyes that met hers as she rushed down the stairs.

"Merlin!" she exclaimed at the sight of his ankle.

It hurt just looking at it!

"Nah, I'm Josh Kendall, but you came close" he chuckled, pain straining his voice.

She noticed a faint accent to his voice that she couldn't really place.

She smiled at his bad joke and waved her wand over his body, healing the already forming bruises and wrapping his ankle tightly in gauze.

"Hermione Granger" she introduced herself as she helped him to stand.

"I know..." he said and she prepared herself for the listing of "Bookworm extraordinaire" and "Brightest witch of her age".

But found herself blushing when he said something else entirely.

"Prettiest witch at Hogwarts" he said softly and looked at her, smiling gently.

She smiled back and shook her head, sure that he was simply being nice.

"Australia, right?" she said, finally pin pointing the accent.

"Yeah" he responded, again flashing her a row of slightly crooked white teeth.

She bit her lip and tried not to giggle like a love struck first year, but this _was_ the first time a boy had flirted with her and she couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach.

The fact that he was good looking didn't hurt either.

–

Josh couldn't believe his luck, he'd been stalking the Fox, waiting outside the portrait hole.

When she unexpectedly came out of the portrait hole, he was close to being seen and accidentally stumbled on his feet and fell down the stairs.

He tried to stop from screaming as a disgusting crack sounded from his ankle and pain raced up his leg.

Unfortunately his lips voiced his feelings before he could stop himself and before he knew it, the Fox was_ right there_, at his feet, taking care of him.

He didn't have any idea how to get her to give her virginity to him, so he decided to improvise, after all, it had gone fairly well so far.

If you didn't count the twisted ankle.

So he turned his charm on and worked his magic.

When a blush graced her cheeks he almost smirked evilly.

_The money was practically in his pocket already._


End file.
